Unhappy... Reality bites for Liverpool as Suarez looks set to leave the Club

The future of Luis Suarez continues to be a hot topic across Europe but Liverpool are not going to make it easy for the Uruguayan to push through a move.

The Anfield club were forced to issue a "not for sale" statement on Friday but as we know every player has his price and Liverpool think Suarez's should be a big one. It had been speculated that Suarez had a £40m release clause but it now appears that such an amount only means Liverpool have to begin negotiations with the bidding club but they are not obliged to sell him at that price.

Many are asking where will we see Luis Suarez next?

On the basis of his recent proclamations, standing on a Madrid street corner in a short skirt, fluttering his eyelids at any passer-by resembling Real Madrid president Florentino Perez. As ‘come and get me’ pleas go – depending on which version of this story you prefer – the last 24 hours have been a combination of the clumsy, deliberately ambiguous and the downright offensive. Every comment he makes at the moment is under forensic examination, sent through the Google translation and rehashed to either imply he is desperate to leave or open-minded about staying.

Suarez is a world class marksman who should be rubbing shoulders with Europe’s elite. Instead the painful reality is he’s a leading figure at a club in transition who can’t even offer him Europa League football next term. Suarez can hardly be criticised for licking his lips at the prospect of leading the line for Real Madrid next season. The emotional pull of the Bernabeu, regardless of the wages, was always going to be difficult to resist. Yet the manner in which Suarez has gone about plotting his departure from Liverpool this week has left a sour taste in the mouth.

Liverpool have stuck with the forward through thick and thin. You would have thought all the support he has received both from the club and the supporters since his arrival from Ajax in January 2011 would be repaid with some honesty and respect. But rather than being up front about his real reasons for wanting to move on, he has tried to paint a picture of himself as a victim. Blaming the press for forcing him out of English football is simply laughable. Yes, Suarez has been unfairly criticised at times but blaming the media to make your case to other leading European clubs isn’t such a nice thing either.

For all the criticism, there has been lavish praise. Hey, he got two votes in the FWA Player of the Year award and a deserved place in the PFA Team of the Year. That was pretty good in the circumstances. Of course opposition fans are going to despise him. The Liverpool fans who love him would feel the same way as their rivals if Suarez was a Manchester United or Everton player.

If Brendon Rodgers can convince him stay for another year (which looks increasingly difficult by each passing day), then that augurs well for the reds or else the club should part ways with the Uruguayan. The amount recovered from his sale can be used for summer reinforcements by virtue of which Liverpool can challenge for a Top four spot next year.

Spanish daily, MARCA reported a few days ago that there had been contact between Luis Suárez and Real Madrid. The newspaper now claims that it can confirm that a deal to sign the Uruguayan has been struck between both parties. The deal is nothing new. It was reached some weeks ago. On one hand, there were the player's agents led by Pere Guardiola, Pep's brother and on the other, Florentino Pérez's envoys in these matters, the Money men. It's a done deal.

Wonder what British media has to say about it, but as it claims watch this space for more!